The Last Jedi, Kendrick Lamar, MTV Movie & TV Awards, A Tribe Called Quest – IP 71

In this episode we’re focusing on some of the major pop culture releases of the month!

The trailer for the latest installment of the Star Wars series- The Last Jedi– was released and Sean gives an in depth analysis of the themes of this teaser and theories on the film.

Then, there is no containing our adoration for the incomparable Kendrick Lamar and his latest album, DAMN. We review and reflect on the rap genius and share our initial reactions.

Plus, MTV revamped and expanded their Movie Awards to include television and also removed separate gender categories. We discuss whether this is a smart move to refresh a decades old awards show.

And Amita reviews last week’s Big Sell- A Tribe Called Quest’s latest video directed by Atlanta‘s Hiro Murai for the single- “Dis Generation”, and sells Sean on a recent episode of The Mindy Project.

Let us know your thoughts on all of the above on Twitter or Instagram @PopInsiders

Links:

A Tribe Called Quest: Dis Generation video

Rolling Stone track by track guide to Kendrick Lamar’s Damn.

The Walking Dead, Big Little Lies, Prince, Kendrick Lamar – IP 70

This week, we achieve the impossible- we discuss the finales of The Walking Dead and Big Little Lies without spoiling a thing! Our discussion focuses on the appropriate length of a season and the pros and cons of producing a series with an end in sight.

Then, Sean takes a purple moment to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Prince’s seminal album, Sign O The Times.

And the Big Sell gets super sized thanks to Kendrick Lamar’s single “The Heart Part 4” and the new music video for “Humble”.

Listen now and let us know what you thought about the finales of The Walking Dead and Big Little Lies- @popinsiders on Twitter or Instagram.

Links:
Kendrick Lamar’s “Humble” video

A Tribe Called Quests’s music video for Dis Generation

Top Fashionable Females on TV, March Madness Bracket Winner, The White Helmets – IP 69

We conclude our pop culture themed Women’s History Month segments with an interview with Esta Fiesta, host of the Poised N Polished podcast! We talk to Esta about her top 3 fashionable female characters on TV and discuss fashion and feminism.

Next, the conclusion of our inaugural March Madness bracket dedicated to Amita’s celebrity husbands contains a surprising finale. Wait until you hear who she chooses to be her ultimate celeb husband.

And we discuss Sean’s Big Sell from last week, the Oscar winning documentary short, The White Helmets.

Tweet us who you would have picked to win the March Madness bracket @Popinsiders and let us know your favorite fashionable female on TV.

Links:

Poised N Polished on iTunes

Esta Fiesta’s Blog – Living Fiesta

 

Inside Pop Quiz, Amita’s Celebrity Husbands Bracket, Jorja Smith – IP 68

This week, we continue our special Women’s History Month segments with a female themed Inside Pop Quiz and Amita starts to narrow down her celebrity husbands in the Inaugural Inside Pop March Madness Bracket! You won’t believe who she picked. (And neither does Sean!)

And Sean gives his review of last week’s Big Sell, British singer/songwriter Jorja Smith.

Tweet us your thoughts on Amita’s Celebrity Husband choices and quiz our pop culture knowledge @PopInsiders

Our Life Defining Divas, Fleabag, Preview of Amita’s Celeb Husband Bracket – IP 67

This time the Pop Insiders get up close and personal! In the second installment of our series celebrating Women’s History Month, we each share how three female musicians defined different periods of our lives. We discuss music from artists like Annie Lennox, Mary J. Blige, Lauryn Hill, Beyoncé and others that gave us comfort, motivation and inspiration when we needed them the most.

Also, Amita reviews Sean’s Big Sell of the Amazon series Fleabag. Sean was iffy on whether Amita would really like this Big Sell- listen to hear her verdict. And Amita’s Big Sell involved a new British artist AND this reading assignment.

Plus – over the past year we’ve all heard Amita mention her ‘husbands’ – those celebrities who have the right combination of looks and talent which make them worthy potential spouses. Well – in our version of a March Madness bracket, Amita shares her top eight husbands which Sean will use to prepare next week’s celebrity husband bracket. This is guaranteed to be the sexiest bracket you’ve ever experienced!

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @PopInsiders

Check out one Sean’s Defining Diva picks: Eurythmics beautiful dark twisted fantasy aka Beethoven (I Love to Listen to)

 

Favorite Pop Culture Female Friendships, Tickling Giants Interview, Seinabo Sey – IP 66

In honor of Women’s History Month we’re kicking off a series celebrating some of our favorite depictions of women in pop culture. We start off in this episode with our countdown of each of our 3 Favorite Female Friendships. From Meredith and Christina in Grey’s Anatomy to Maxine, Khadijah, Regine and Sinclair in Living Single, we discuss how many of the bonds between women depicted in film and TV are inspirational and aspirational.

And we have a very special interview with Sara Taksler, the writer, producer and director of the independent documentary, Tickling GiantsThis film tells the incredible story of Bassem Youssef, who is considered the Jon Stewart of Egypt. He created his own version of The Daily Show to speak out about the government in Egypt during one of the most tumultuous times in its history. Amita sits down with Sara to discuss the making of this documentary and the message they hope to spread to people in the midst of an interesting political climate in the U.S. as well.

And of course it’s a brand new Big Sell. Sean rates Amita’s Big Sell of Seinabo Sey – and then he Big Sells Amita his new favorite British dramedy.

Links:

Find a screening of Tickling Giants here

Listen to Seinabo Sey’s Hard Time and Pretend

Follow Inside Pop on Twitter and Instagram @PopInsiders

Oscars 2017 Recap, Get Out, Sampha – IP 65

Dozens of hours spent in the dark have all lead to TONIGHT. Listen to hear our immediate reaction to Hollywood’s Biggest Night as we help you figure out WTF happened during the last minutes of the show!!! Bonnie & Clyde give La La Land the award for Best Picture (no surprise to anyone) but then a producer for La La Land declares that Moonlight is the actual winner. Huh? Are you confused? Elated? Concerned for Faye Dunaway? So are we! Listen to hear us make sense of it all! Plus red carpet moments, rating Jimmy Kimmel as host, and declaring the winner of our Long Distance Popcast VS Inside Pop Oscar Ballot  – we’ll give you our unique perspective on the 89th Annual Academy Awards.

Plus – we review the new must see, must talk about, must tell everyone how much you love it movie of the moment – Jordan Peele’s Get Out! But – does the film live up to the hype? One of us thinks – mmmm, maybe not?

And The Big Sell returns after a week off. Amita rates and reviews Sampha’s new album, Process. And in an unprecedented move, Sean also rates his own Big Sell.

 

Oscars Special – Predictions & Party Etiquette – IP 64

We have an extra special episode this week featuring not one, not two, but three guests to discuss the Oscars!

Our podcast friends, Claudia Castillo and Matt McKee, hosts of Long Distance Popcast joined us for an Oscar Ballot Battle Royale- we all filled out separate Oscar Ballots and are competing against one another to see who will best predict the winners on Sunday night.

Then, we chat with friend of the podcast, Caroline Hand, about her predictions for Oscar night and share some very important etiquette tips for hosting or attending an Oscar Party.

This episode is filled to the brim with Oscar goodness and you don’t want to miss it (unless you’re Mel Gibson- sorry buddy, you’re not winning this year)

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter on Oscar night to find out who will win the Oscar Ballot Battle and read our live twitter commentary during the awards show!

And please check out Long Distance Popcast on Twitter here and listen to their podcast here.

Grammy Awards 2017, Beyoncé, Adele, Prince, 24: Legacy, August Wilson’s Jitney – IP 63

We couldn’t wait until our usual Wednesday release to drop this special episode with our immediate reaction to the Grammy Awards! We pick out the real winners of the
evening- from Adele and her impressive recovery during her tribute to George Michael to the props she gave Beyoncé when she won Album of the Year; Queen Bey’s stunning performance and inspiring acceptance speech; the perfection of Bruno Mars during his tribute to Prince and the troublesome audio issues on ‘Music’s Biggest Night.’

Then, Sean shares his thoughts on the spinoff series, 24: Legacy, and we share our experience watching the brilliant August Wilson play Jitney on Broadway.

And Sean rates and reviews the dance video set to Justin Timberlake’s “Cry Me A River” by Andrew Winghart and then flips the Big Sell on its side with a unique suggestion.

Super Bowl, Lady Gaga, Kristen Stewart on SNL, DGA Awards, Abbey Lincoln – IP 62

Ok- so the Patriots won the Super Bowl, but the real headliner was the high flying halftime show by Lady Gaga! We give you our Super Bowl Recap including some of our favorite commercials, the amazing rendition of “America The Beautiful” by the original Schuyler Sisters from Hamilton and of course Lady Gaga’s halftime show!

Then, we have your latest awards update with the winners of the Director’s Guild Awards. Listen to find out how the DGA winners will predict who gets to take home an Oscar!

Plus we give props to Kristen Stewart for her turn as host on SNL.

We also share some podcast love as we join fellow pop culture podcasters JojCast, and their 30 Day Movie Challenge!

All that and Amita gives her review and rating of Sean’s Big Sell- Jazz singer Abbey Lincoln and sells Sean on a viral dance video.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @PopInsiders